


Induction

by Smokeycut



Series: Earth 54 [5]
Category: DC Comics, Legion of Super-Heroes (Comics)
Genre: F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:27:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26942116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Smokeycut/pseuds/Smokeycut
Summary: The Legion of Superheroes is preparing to induct a few new members. Are they ready for this?
Relationships: Jan Arrah/Shvaughn Erin
Series: Earth 54 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1716358
Kudos: 2





	Induction

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t exactly know why I decided to make Jaime and Carrie exist in the 31st century in this AU, but I did. So there.

**11th day of Tamuz, 6781.**

**Metro Polis, Earth.**

“You excited?”

“Why wouldn’t I be? Today’s the day, after all.”

Shvaughn Erin was excited, it was true. She was also incredibly anxious, slightly fearful, and just a touch queasy. But her boyfriend smiled at her in that way that seemed to radiate sunlight, and which told her _everything is going to be just fine_. She didn’t have the foggiest idea of how he did that, but it sometimes drove her mad. Today, though, she welcomed it. She’d take all the help she could get to ease her unsteady nerves. 

It just felt like it was all happening so fast. 

That’s what she’d said to him, earlier that week when he gave her the news. It was late at night, while he was stripping out of his costume. Pink and black spandex dropped down the laundry shute, and Jan Arrah’s abs threatened to hypnotize her before he broke the news. The Legion was extending an offer of membership. She didn’t need to say yes, but she didn’t need to say no either. The offer would stand until she was ready to accept it. 

But all she could think was that she’d only just gotten her powers the night before. 

She was always willing, happy even, to lend a helping hand when it was needed. She’d majored in investigative procedures at the science academy, and her forensic knowledge was a boon when it came to solving mysteries. She got along just fine with everyone in the Legion, at least as much as could be expected. But joining them? Actually, literally _being_ one of the Legionnaires? 

And it was all because of some freak accident. A million to one chance that a piece of Naltorian machinery would malfunction in just the right way while she was in just the right place, when she wasn’t even meant to be on Naltor in the first place. She had meant to be on Imsk, on _vacation_ , but Dream Girl needed help and, well… they were in the neighborhood. 

And now she had anti gravity powers. Of course. 

“You’re gonna do great, Shvaugn,” Jan, Element Lad, promised her. 

She believed him, against all sense and logic. He’d been helping her every step of the way, ever since she sent the i-mail to accept the offer of membership. He’d helped her fabricate a costume, suited to her aesthetic preferences, and he hadn’t once complained while she spent all night brainstorming codenames in bed, rather than sleeping. 

But now the day was upon her. The day that she zipped up her new costume, all lilac and black spandex, for the very first time. The day that she, Shvaugn Erin, _Light Lass_ , would head to Legion HQ and swear an oath, and become a Legionnaire. 

Today was the day. A big damn day. 

But at least she’d have Jan at her side, cheering her on. 

•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•

Kon was new. 

Not to the future, although, in a way, he was. More to existence in general. He’d _been_ from the 1990s, back when people still used the Gregorian calendar. At least, that’s when he’d been made. Cloned, rather. 

It was complicated. 

He met Superman, and the original Superman, and found out that _that_ was who he was. Sort of. In a way. But then, just a few short weeks into his tenure as Superboy, he’d run headfirst into a fight with some French asshole named Warp, and when the time traveler vanished, well… He sort of took Kon with him. 

The future was accommodating, if confusing. They even offered to send him back, before it became clear that he never would. At least, not according to the history books. It hurt his head if he tried to think about it too much, and it hurt his head even more when Brainiac 5 tried to explain it to him. It was easier to think of it in simple terms. 

He was stuck in the future. Possibly forever. Whoops. 

But he was willing to make the best of the situation, and the future was, though confusing, also pretty cool. The i-net was radical, and commercial space travel meant he could kick back and relax on his way to New Krypton, rather than having to put in any _effort_. He liked that. He liked that a lot. 

Of course, his mere existence in the future caused a bit of a stir. The news couldn’t stop reporting about the new adventures of Superboy, the time traveling Kryptonian wonder. Even if all he did was save some girl’s cat from a tree, it made headlines during his first week. 

When he agreed to join the Legion, well, that made headlines all across the galaxy. People just wouldn’t stop talking about it. He didn’t get what the big deal was, at least not at first. But then Imra sat him down and explained the deal. 

How the Legion of Superheroes used to be the Justice Legion. How the Justice Legion used to be the Justice League International. How the Justice League International used to be the Justice League. How the Justice League used to be the Justice League of America. 

How Superman had helped found the JLA, way back in the day. And now, in a way, Superman was joining it again. 

So it was kind of a big deal. _He_ was kind of a big deal. And obviously he wasn’t the only new inductee. There were others, like that Shvaughn chick that Element Lad was always bringing over to the Legion Clubhouse, or the weird quiet person from Neo Gotham. But Superboy, the clone of the first superhero, _he_ was the main event. 

He pulled on his costume, and slipped into the leather jacket he’d brought from the past. Putting a 90s spin on the future spin on the 30s classic. That was how he rolled. 

Today he was going to make history. Again. Sort of. 

{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}

**Neo Gotham, Earth.**

Carrie Kelley never expected to get the i-mail. They really didn’t. 

The only i-mail they ever got was the typical spam offers and obvious viruses, with the occasional bluffer saying they had their parents hostage and wouldn’t release them unless Carrie gave up all the credits to their name. 

But Carrie didn’t even have any folks to kidnap. They lived alone, and had ever since they were 14 years old. Back when they first ran away, first became Robin. 

But Robin was a long time ago now. 4 whole years, in fact. Now? Now they were Bat Lad. The scourge of Neo Gotham’s crime families and neon, skeletal looking supervillains. 

Still, they were a bit thrown by the i-mail. But it checked out. It was from a legit source. Sent by Computo itself, and cosigned by current Legion President Nura “Nia” Nal. Dream Girl. 

But why them? Why Carrie? Hell, how’d the Legion even know Bat Lad _was_ Carrie? They’d made sure to inquire about that in their response, and yet the question was only answered with some nonsense about it coming to Nia in a dream. Of course. 

They waffled on it for a while. Forgot it was in their mailbox for a while longer. But then, while hunting for a years old i-mail as part of a case, they found the offer again. Still active. Still open. Still waiting for a definitive reply. 

So fuck it. They said yes. If the Legion was finally going to accept a powerless member, it may as well have been a bat. 

And today was the day. So they crawled off the couch and made their way to the closet, stifling a yawn as they hit the panel which opened the secret compartment for their gear. The costume, the cowl, the cape, the wrist-mounted slingshot, the belt… Bat Lad was made up of a variety of odds and ends, cobbled together over the years until perfection had been achieved. 

They stood in the sunlight, a rare sight indeed, and adjusted their goggles to account for the light. There was a zeta beam station just a few blocks away from their apartment, and they still had an hour before the ceremony began. 

Today was going to be interesting, that was for damn sure. 

=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=

**Metro Polis, Earth. Again.**

Jaime stood in the shining light, and blinked against its harshness. His palms were sweaty and his legs felt like gelatin. If not for his hard, metallic carapace, he was sure he’d collapse from the sheer anxiety of it all. He wasn’t even this nervous, normally. But, well, today wasn’t a normal day. 

Today was the day. 

He stood in front of the Legion of Superheroes’ Clubhouse; a towering symbol of progress and heroism, and the tallest building in Metro Polis. Nia Nal, the current president of the Legion, was standing at a ringed podium, with all sorts of different news drones and in-person reporters clamoring for the best view. Jaime stood several bodies away from Dream Girl, at the end of the line of new inductees. Behind them stood several members of the Legion. 

There was Sun Boy, and Invisible Kid, and Brainiac 5 and Mon El and Shadow Lass and the Lightning Twins and Shrinking Violet and Ferro Lad and Princess Projectra and- 

It wasn’t all of them, but it was a lot of them. Enough to leave him feeling woefully out of his element. He’d only just found the scarab, buried in some cave in El Paso. But after he’d saved that out of control bus, he got the i-mail, and he hadn’t even hesitated to say yes. But that eagerness didn’t translate into confidence. 

Element Lad was smiling at one inductee in particular, and gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. Did they know one another? Or was he just being nice to another nervous newcomer? If so, Jaime hoped he’d give him some encouragement too. He could certainly use it. 

Crap. Dream Girl was calling out the names, and shaking their hands. So soon? Already? 

Bat Lad. Superboy. Wait, Superboy? What? The line was growing closer. Light Lass. Beetle Boy. 

Why had he picked Beetle Boy? Could he change it? Not now, he didn’t have anything better yet, but in the future maybe? She was shaking his hand, and he hardly even noticed. Smile, he reminded himself. Wait, he remembered, they couldn’t even see his expression beneath his carapace. It covered his whole entire face. Of course, he kept on smiling anyways. Just in case. 

And then it was done and over with. The press, and the civilian onlookers, and of course the various present members of the Legion, were all invited inside the Clubhouse for food and festivities. New members were a cause for celebration, Dream Girl claimed.

He dodged and weaved his way through the throng of people, strangers really, homing in on the buffet table. He accidentally bumped into Superboy on the way, but the Kryptonian clone just laughed it off and patted him on the back. Element Lad and that Light Lass girl were cuddling on a sofa, talking to Lightning Lass and Shrinking Violet. Guess that answered that. But where was that other new person? Bat Lad, right?

“Is that shrimp?”

He jumped. There, right next to him all of a sudden, was the black and grey shape that had just been made a member of the Legion. They were hunched over the table, studying a circle of shrimp which surrounded a bowl of cocktail sauce. 

“Uhh, yeah? I mean, it might be artificial,” Jaime mumbled. “Lotta shellfish is artificial these days.”

“Hm. Never had shellfish before.”

“Me either, now that I think of it,” he admitted. 

“Hm. Okay. I’m gonna steal some.”

“By steal, you mean-“

Apparently, they meant plucking several shrimp off the tray and hiding them away in their yellow utility belt. They went to leave, only to turn back at the last second and grab one more shrimp, which they proceeded to cram into their mouth, tail and all. Jaime winced at the sight. 

“See you around, Beetle.”

“Uhh, yeah. See ya around,” He said back, with a small wave. 

That’s when it hit him. He was a member of the Legion now. 

Today was a pretty big day.

**Author's Note:**

> For trivia’s sake, Jaime does eventually switch over to Blue Beetle, once he finds out about Dan Garrett (the previous scarab owner) and Ted Kord.


End file.
